A Week Of Exchanges

Dear Family

This was a good week. I went on 3 exchanges with members of my district because Elder Kitchen is District Leader and he goes on exchanges with every Elder in the district and the Zone leaders, which means I do too!

Monday was P-Day. For the second week in a row, we went golfing. Let's just say that I wasn't on par for any of the 12 holes at the golf course we went to. Golfing has never been my favorite thing to do and my frustration with the sport has never been a good thing. Other than that, golfing was quite fun.

Tuesday and Thursday were exchanges. I stayed in my area for those days and was able to finally drive again! It was weird not having driven for a couple of months and took some getting used to again. Exchanges are always a good experience because you have the opportunity to learn from other missionaries and see how they approach the work. It is also really amazing to see more seasoned missionaries approach people and eventually be able to teach and make a return appointment.

On Saturday I went with one of the zone leaders to downtown Bellevue, which is a newer big city. The city is about the size of SLC and probably wouldn't be around without Microsoft. I had no idea how big that company really was until I came here. Microsoft has buildings in almost every city here and there are many ward members that work for Microsoft.

Transfers are coming up next Tuesday. For us it is really up in the air. Elder Kitchen has been here a long time and every transfer he thinks it is his time to leave, but it ends up being his companion. I feel as though I could take over the area if he left. I have gotten to know the people we teach well and also the rest of the ward okay.
Lessons this week went well. We are still in the process of finding some new investigators, but we keep our lesson count up with Members and Recent Converts and Less Actives. I have really gotten to love the people we teach regularly. It is truly our mission to find and research lessons that pertain to the people we teach and will help better their lives through the gospel.

Now more than ever I realize the importance of member missionary work. Without the members, true missionary work could never be accomplished. It is up to the members to help missionaries find and fellowship those we teach so that they may be good members of the Church. That is one thing I have seen with Rebbecca and Jane. The members have really embraced them and helped them become part of the ward family.

Yesterday we had a new investigator who come to our ward by surprise to "spy" out the Mormon Church. He came to our gospel principles class, where he disagreed about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost being 3 separate beings and the rest of his stay at Church became more of an argument. He wasn't willing to open his mind a little more and see that God reveals more scripture. I am glad that we have strong Church members in our class who know the doctrine (and the bible) really well.

Here are some pictures I took of downtown Seattle in the distance during the sunset and one of a spider web. The spiders are everywhere here and they are big! I have never seen so many of them in my life. Martha, you would hate to go outside here. Once, there was a spider that crawled out of a lady's fireplace. Its body was the size of a quarter and with the legs it was about the size of a tennis ball.


I love you! And the Church is true!

Love

Elder Richard Fetzer

Baptisim!

Dear Family-
The highlight of this week the Baptism of Rebbecca and Jane. Saturday's baptism was well attended. The ward has really embraced them and they are going to be awesome members. Rebbecca has had a hard life, but she has really seen a change for the better with the gospel a part of it. It has really strengthened my testimony of what the gospel can do for people. I got to participate in the circle when they got the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was really neat! Here they do that during Sacrament Meeting, which I had never seen before. I know that they felt the spirit this weekend and I can't wait to continue to teach them the gospel and eventually see Rebbecca go through the Temple. I know that she knows the Temple is a special place. She felt the spirit just being on the grounds.

The weeks here keep getting better and better and I know that through faith and obedience we can keep our goals. As always, The Church is true and I can't wait to hear from you later this week!

~Elder Richard Fetzer

Next Week Baptism!

This was a good week mainly because we got someone on date for baptism Saturday the 16th. Meet Jane and Rebbecca. Rebbecca is a single mom, who has been investigating for about 9 months now and Jane is her 9 year old daughter. They are ready to accept the Gospel. Rebbecca constantly tells us that she feels the spirit in her life and that ever since she has started living the Gospel, her life has changed. Originally Jane wasn't going to be baptized because she is with her dad on Sundays and can't attend church, but she attends her other Church activities throughout the week and President Larkin thought it would be appropriate for her to be baptized the same day as her mother. They will be strong members of the church! Rebbecca feels right in the Church and the ward has really reached out and befriended her. On Sunday we took Rebbecca on a tour of the Temple grounds. She truly felt the spirit of the grounds and we constantly reminded her that she would always feel this same spirit after she was baptized on Saturday. She knew that the temple was a special place and didn't want to leave the grounds and return home. Now that we have Jane on date to be baptized, we are going to be teaching Rebbecca  and Jane almost every night this week so that Jane can understand the importance of being baptized into Christ's Church.

 

As for our other investigators, they aren't really progressing, although we have faith that they will. One woman from Kroatia was supposed to be baptized on Saturday, but she still had some problems to work out. President Larkin has challenged me and Elder Kitchen to have 4 baptisms this month, almost doubling the amount of baptisms this ward has had this year. I think we can actually do it too! Tonight and tomorrow I have my first exchanges with another Elder in my district. I am going to stay in our area with the other Elder, while Elder Kitchen goes to a neighboring ward tomorrow. It will be interesting because I still don't know this area very well. The weeks here keep getting better and better. This week should be good too! We are getting better at keeping our schedules full so we don't have to go tracting, which isn't very effective in this area at all! The bishop gave us some good ideas on where to go in our area , which has been okay so far. Like I said last week, really the only baptisms that have come about in this ward have been from member referrals. I can't wait to tell you about how my first baptisms have gone when I write back next week!

Until then,

~Elder Richard Fetzer

A Week of Walking!

Dear Family,

This was a long week! Last Monday, Elder Kitchen and I went fishing. It was pretty fun except we didn't catch anything! It was still fun though! We tried in Lake Samamish, but all we got were a couple of bites from little fish. We aren't allowed to go fishing in rivers right now because this is the time of year the salmon come upstream to hatch.

This week consisted of a lot of walking. The mission is only allotted a certain number of miles a month and they limit miles for missionaries. We have about 1000 miles a month, which you would think would last, but we go about 30-40 miles a day so they run out pretty quickly. After we run out we have to walk, which in this area isn't fun because there are so many hills and it is a very large area. Luckily, members are usually willing to take us to our next appointment once we get to their house so we managed.

This week we had a dinner appointment with a part-member/less active family. The dad is a member but really has no intention of coming back to church. We taught a lesson that included a bit about baptism because they have a daughter that could be baptized, but they really shut us down after the lesson. It made both my companion and me really sad!

Lets just say that General Conference was AMAZING! There was so much I got out of it this time and I can't wait to apply what I learned. I especially liked Uchdorf's talk on managing turbulent times of life and slowing down. I also liked President Monson's talk on choices in the priesthood session. On Saturday between Conference sessions we went to a boat race in Lake Samamish! It was really cool and fast!

In a slow week we still did have some miracles: First, we finally got a hold of our investigator, Astrid, a European woman with a baptismal date that we haven't been able to get a hold of for over a week! We were a bit worried, but we were glad to see she was still doing well. Second, last night (Sunday) we got to give a blessing to a girl who was sick from a recent convert family. This family, the Matthews, is really nice and we go over to their home all the time! They are also the family who referred our new investigator! Even in times when their family was inactive they still told people about the gospel. It was really amazing that doing those kinds of ordinances is part of my calling!

Overall, the investigators we have are doing quite well and I know they feel the spirit. We have our first baptism on the 16th, which I am really excited for! I love you and feel your prayers every day! As always, the Church is true!

Love,

Richard

group of Elders I was at the SL airport with

Issaquah with Bellevue and Seattle in the background

me and Elder Kitchen

one of the boats at Lake Samamish

Issaquah

Family,

I am finally here! It is hard though. Gone are the days where the "investigators" took every word of advice and people (aka other missionaries walking around the MTC) on the "street" were always ready and willing to have another lesson or even listen to you.

I am assigned to serve in the Issaquah 5th ward. We are east of Seattle in the city of Issaquah, among the mountains and evergreens. It is a really nice area and the ward is really great! The ward is supportive of missionaries and they try their best to find us people to teach. Many people here are comfortable and not really interested in the gospel, but they are really nice and supportive to the LDS missionaries. But because of the members, we do have people to teach and there are 2 people on date to be baptized! This week we got one new investigator. His name is Marcello and he is from Brazil. He was referred to us by a family in our ward and we teach him at their home. So far we have taught him 2 lessons about the restoration, but it is hard because he doesn't understand a lot of English. Luckily Bro. Maximo (the man who referred him to us) knows Portuguese and translates for us. Marcello has a lot of questions, but is ready to accept the gospel. He went to church in Brazil, but when he moved here he didn't find one that fit for him so he quit going to church. I know that in our lessons he has felt the spirit.

My new companion's name is Elder Kitchen. He has been out for a little more than a year and is a really good missionary. He is from Mesa, Arizona. He has been serving in this area for 8 months and he knows the members well. They really trust him and I know that because of their trust in him, the Lord has allowed him to serve in this area for so long.

This has been one of the quickest, but longest weeks of my life. President and Sister Larkin picked us up at the airport and we were taken to the mission home where I met my new companion. President Larkin is really great and I can't wait to get to know him even better. Every day has been a lot of walking and meeting people on the street. We teach every day members, non-members, and our new investigators.

The mission has a goal to baptize 720 people by the end of the year. So far they have about 380 so we have a long way to go. President Larkin has continually told us that he prays every day that we can get that number and he has faith that if every missionary works hard that we can. So I pray every day that we can find people to teach. We are to try to talk to 80 people a day, but it is really hard, especially here in the suburbs. We haven't made that goal yet, but each day we do talk to more and more people.

Elder Kitchen and I have our own apartment, which is pretty nice. We do have a kitchen, but whenever we go to members houses, they offer us food. We have dinner with members about twice a week, but the generosity of the members helps us get by.

Washington is beautiful and I am grateful I have such a good companion. I am excited to see dad in conference this week. As always the Church is true and I can feel your prayers every day! I love you!

Love, Elder Richard Fetzer

First Letter from Seattle: September 21, 2010

President and Sister Larkin

Dear Family,
Whoa, I am actually here! Today we got on the plane and I got to sit by a man who was coming to Seattle with his daughter to get surgery. They are Mormon, but we still had a nice gospel discussion. An elder in front of us had a good gospel discussion and we gave away a pass along card.
We got off the plane and found our mission president. He is really great and I can't wait to get to know him more.
Now we are at the mission home and are going to eat a really good meal. We saw the city today and it is beautiful!
Love,
Elder Richard Fetzer
p.s. I will write soon!

Quick Update

Richard left the MTC for Seattle early this morning. He was able to call us from the airport and is excited and nervous to begin preaching the gospel. Just a reminder, instead of using Dear Elder, you can now write Richard at the address on the sidebar.